Genetic Counseling Graduate Program, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Human Genetics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, United States.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, United States.
Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2020 Nov;34(6):629-636. doi: 10.1111/ppe.12666. Epub 2020 Mar 9.
While most known causes of infertility relate to the health of the woman and/or her partner, questions have been raised regarding the possible contributions of transgenerational or epigenetic factors.
The goal of this hypothesis-generating work was to examine whether Generation 1's (G1's) age at the delivery of G2 (Generation 2) was associated with G2's fertility in later life.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of women (G2s) recruited online in 2016. A questionnaire queried G2s regarding demographics and fertility. The primary exposure was G1's age at G2's birth. Outcome measures included the following: 12-month infertility, time to pregnancy, and childlessness. The adjusted relative risk (RR) of G2 infertility and childlessness by G1 age at G2's birth was estimated through a modified Poisson regression approach. The fecundity odds ratio (FOR) for the association between G1's age at G2 birth and time to pregnancy for G2 was estimated by discrete-time survival models, with complementary log-log link.
A total of 2,854 women enrolled. We found no association between G1 age at G2's birth and G2 infertility. Being born to a G1 aged 15-19 years was associated with a longer time to pregnancy for G2 (FOR 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.72, 0.99), relative to being born to a G1 aged 20-24 years. We observed the suggestion of a possible increased risk of childlessness among G2s born to older G1s, but the estimate was imprecise.
While being born to a G1 who was 15-19 years old was associated with an increase in G2 time to pregnancy, we found no association between G1 age at G2's birth and infertility and only the suggestion of a modest association with childlessness. These data suggest a possible subtle effect of G1 age at G2's birth on G2 fertility, which warrants further study.
虽然大多数已知的不孕原因与女性和/或其伴侣的健康有关，但人们对代际或表观遗传因素的可能贡献提出了疑问。
这项产生假说的工作旨在研究第一代（G1）在生育第二代（G2）时的年龄是否与 G2 的生育能力有关。
我们对 2016 年在线招募的女性（G2）进行了回顾性队列研究。一份问卷询问了 G2 的人口统计学和生育能力。主要暴露因素是 G1 在 G2 出生时的年龄。结局指标包括：12 个月的不孕、妊娠时间和无子。通过修正泊松回归方法，估计 G1 在 G2 出生时的年龄与 G2 不孕和无子的调整相对风险（RR）。通过离散时间生存模型，使用互补对数-对数链接，估计 G1 在 G2 出生时的年龄与 G2 妊娠时间之间的生育力比值比（FOR）。
共有 2854 名女性入组。我们没有发现 G1 在 G2 出生时的年龄与 G2 不孕之间存在关联。与 G1 年龄在 20-24 岁时相比，G2 出生时 G1 年龄在 15-19 岁与 G2 的妊娠时间较长有关（FOR 0.84，95%置信区间 0.72，0.99）。我们观察到 G2 出生时 G1 年龄较大与无子的风险增加有关，但估计值不精确。
虽然 G1 年龄在 15-19 岁时出生与 G2 妊娠时间延长有关，但我们没有发现 G1 在 G2 出生时的年龄与不孕之间存在关联，只有与无子之间存在适度关联的迹象。这些数据表明 G1 在 G2 出生时的年龄可能对 G2 的生育能力有微妙的影响，这需要进一步研究。
